Stories tagged China
China National Space Administration logo
Courtesy CNSASometime later this week, perhaps as early as tomorrow, China will launch its third manned space mission, Shenzhou-7 into space along with three astronauts – one of whom will perform China's first ever space walk.
The goal of the mission is to allow the Chinese program to develop the skills needed for the construction of a space station and eventual manned trips to the moon.
With the first manned Shenzhou mission in 2003, China joined the United States and the former Soviet Union as the only nations capable of launching astronauts into space.
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Deadly milk formula: Melamine added to Chinese baby milk is deadly.
Courtesy kirikiri
Babies are dying
Four babies have died after drinking milk powder contaminated with melamine. Melamine is a cheap plastic made from oil, and when added to powdered milk, looks like protein in tests. Melamine was in the news over a year ago when pet food from China containing melamine was killing people's pets. In an attempt to regain public confidence, China executed a top drug regulator who was taking bribes to approve substandard medicines, including an antibiotic blamed for at least 10 deaths.
So far 19 people have been arrested while 78 others have been interrogated, according to Yang Zongyong, vice governor of the northern province of Hebei where Sanlu is based.
"We will severely punish and discipline those people and workers who have acted illegally," Health Minister Gao said Saturday. Beijing AFP
Parents are furious
After a month of pride in China's national achievements with hosting the olympics, the food scandal has angry citizens posting quotes like:
"Drink a glass of milk a day, wipe out a country!"
"Foreign milk costs money, domestic milk costs lives" The Independent
Inspection free and government approved
Until a week ago, Sanlu's baby milk formula came with a seal stating "no inspection needed": their 1100 tests met the highest possible standards of government approval.
"So the question should really be whether the victims can sue the Chinese government."
Somebody should have to pay
"In an unprecedented stand yesterday that will test the Communist Party's limits on civil society, more than 70 human rights lawyers from 23 provinces and municipalities announced they will help parents whose babies are sick or have developed kidney stones from drinking tainted infant formula" (read more in the Sunday Herald)
Two provinces in China hit last May by a devastating earthquake were hit again early Saturday. The 6.1 magnitude tremor struck around 0730 GMT damaging more than 100,000 homes according to the Xinhua news agency. Communications have been sketchy and rescue efforts delayed by heavy rains in the region. So far 22 people have been reported killed.
More on the latest quake from the BBC
Latest from Xinhua news
A massive algae bloom is choking China’s Yellow Sea and threatening some Olympic events. Many Chinese cities dump untreated sewage into the Sea. Rich in nutrients, the sewage makes the algae grow like crazy. The problem goes beyond the inconvenience to boaters. The growing algae changes the near-shore habitat. And when all this algae dies, the bacteria that decays it sucks oxygen out of the water, killing fish and creating a dead zone.
A million forced to flee flooding in China
Torrential downpours have severely affected nine provinces in China. China's civil affairs ministry says nearly 1.3 million people have now fled their homes in the hardest hit regions as the bad weather continues. The flooding in the Pearl river delta is the worst for 50 years. The flooding has submerged large areas of farm land and destroyed 6,600 homes in Guangdong and Jiangxi provinces. As of early Sunday morning, 55 deaths were reported.
Click this link to read more and see a video:
Recent flooding in Southern China (BBC News).
Click here to see BBC photos.
A drink with some bite: China cracks down on the sales of tiger bone wine
Here's some interesting video about a problem in Chinese wildlife preserves: the sale of tiger bone wine, which some Chinese believe has medicinal benefits.
The region normally experiences heavy rainfall about this time every year, but meteorological authorities said this was the worst in five decades.
Flooding has affected many cities in the Pearl River Delta -- home to many export manufacturing plants -- and the western part of Guangdong province. (Reuters via Yahoo News)
Chinese earthquake location
Courtesy USGSThe Tangjiashan “quake lake”
formed by a landslide during China’s devastating May 12th earthquake is draining slowly thanks to a sluice constructed by engineers there. Fears of the lake bursting from its earthen dam pushed authorities to find a quick and effective way to release the pressure building from the backed-up water. More than a million people living in the area were under threat of being inundated with millions of cubic meters of water.
As work crews start construction of a second drainage channel, engineers are closely watching downstream riverbanks and bridges for any sign of stress from the surging waters.
The 7.9 magnitude earthquake killed over 60,000 people and more than 17,000 are still missing.
SOURCES AND LINKS
AP story
BBC report
Maps and photos of lake region
An aftershock measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale caused landslides and other damage in the same areas devastated by the earthquake four days ago. At last report, some 4.8 million people were homeless, and more than 22,000 people died. Blocked roads and other damage to infrastructure have made it hard for rescuers and other aid to reach the hardest-hit cities and villages. China has asked the US for satellite images that might help locate victims and identify damaged infrastructure. And Western experts are watching carefully for any signs that China's nuclear weapons facilities, which are concentrated in the earthquake zone, have been damaged.
More Buzz stories about the earthquake:
"7.8 earthquake in Sichuan, China"
"Chinese panda habitat in jeopardy after earthquake"
Sing me a song oh pianofrog: Researchers are finding the a species of frogs in China sing mating songs as duets at ultrasonic frequencies.
Courtesy carfKeep your American Idol. I’ll settle to listening to Frog Idol.
Researchers in China have found that frogs in the wild there communicate with each other in a duet of musical tones made at ultrasonic frequencies that are beyond the hearing range of humans.
Specifically, they’ve recorded the mating calls between females and males. How’s this for setting the mood, the researchers found the romantic duets could most often be heard on rainy nights.
After recording the female portion of the duet, the researchers played back that recording to males kept in captivity. They responded by adding the male response – sort of a frog version of a duet between Barbra Streisand and Neil Diamond. The males also began leaping toward the source of the female songs.
Why is this so cool to know, besides prying into the romantic ways of Chinese frogs? It’s further proof that some animals have been able to adapt their hearing range to live successfully in their environment.
Being able to communicate at ultrasonic levels gives frogs a way to hear each other of the lower frequency noise caused by rushing river waters in their habit.
And just like human singers, the female frogs sing their portion of the duet at a higher frequency than the male frogs.
But the real lessons from these frogs may be applied in improving hearing aid technology. That’s the main purpose behind these researchers’ work.
Now if Budweiser could get its frogs to sing at ultrasonic frequencies, maybe it could sell even more beer!
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